(Continuedfrom page 491) centuries Paris
again became a center of French culture. In
the end, the city gave birth to the revolution
and became the immortal queen of France,
girt by her shimmering river.
To me, the most symbolic spot in France
is a bronze medallion sunk in the pavement
in the shadow of Notre Dame. This is the
point, the mystic center, from which all dis
tances are measured. In all things French,
Paris is the standard of measurement.
LOVELY GIRL is a rare sight
in the provinces, but Paris
Seems with beauties from the
Provinces.
One may encounter
rudeness in a Parisian, but seldom stupidity:
Citizens of Paris owe it to their city, which is
a monument to the variety of the mind, to
behave intelligently, to add their daily digit
to the sum of excellence. At a flower stall on
the le de la Cite, Nancy gasped at the array
of roses and chrysanthemums-and of exot
ic tropical flowers selling at a hundred dol
lars the stalk. "Each one is perfect!" she
exclaimed. "Naturally," the proprietor re
plied. "Perfection is our metier."
There are not so many lovers along the
quays of the Seine as there used to be, nor
clochards, those bleary, ragged tramps who
once slept beneath the bridges. Now nobody
sleeps under the bridges except young for
eigners, who are equipped with sleeping
bags, guitars, revolutionary sentiments
and purses filled by indulgent fathers.
During my Paris visit the youth of France
was working seriously on its politics. The
presidential election was taking place, with
Valery Giscard d'Estaing, third president of
the Fifth Republic, opposed by the Socialist
Francois Mitterrand and a Greek chorus of
minor candidates. Late one night, near the
church of St. Germain des Pres, I came on
platoons of muscular young men dashing
through the streets. They carried rolls of
paper, brushes, and buckets of paste as they
darted like troops in an enemy city from
doorway to doorway.
They were posting pictures of their candi
dates on the hoardings provided by the gov
ernment for this purpose. As soon as one
group put up posters, another would dart
out of a darkened street and cover them with
pictures of their own man. As Giscard was
Frailbutformidable, the 81-year-old
Duchesse de La Roche-Guyon stands in
her chateau on the Seine (below).
German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
used it as a command post late in
World War II. "I just moved upstairs
and left him the downstairs," the
duchess says.
Near Les Andelys a symbol of earlier
struggles, Chateau Gaillard,lies in ruins
(right). It was built by Richard the
Lion-Heartedas a strategic redoubt
againstthe king of France. In 1204
Frenchsoldiers storming the castle broke
England'sgrip on Normandy.
National Geographic,April 1982
498